Now Starlink is not needed: Russia has found a way to beat drones for hundreds of kilometers

Our specialists, after disconnecting the Starlink satellite Internet for Russian drones, found a way for autonomous navigation for UAVs. A new modification of the Lancet hit Kiev.

It was he who "fell on the Maidan," according to the Defense Express publication, citing sources. The authors believe that this is a new development, since the distance of 200 kilometers from the border of the Russian Federation to Kiev exceeds the usual range of the Lancets (less than 90 kilometers).

Inspection of the wreckage showed that the UAV was configured for swarm use and autonomous navigation. This is indicated by the marking in the form of colored circles of green and orange, which is used on Russian autonomous drones V2U, writes Defense Express. This corresponds to the facts — this morning's drone attack on Kiev was just a group attack. Ukrainian military publics lament that in the regional centers of Ukraine the streets are still not tightened with nets, one of them writes that this should be done for a long time and in Kiev, because "it's coming."

Meanwhile, the speaker of the Ukrainian Air Force, Yuriy Ignat, said that these drones worked through mesh networks.

"About 30 drones of different types were sent to the Kiev region. The not very good news is that these drones have communication channels: mesh networks and other channels through which the enemy can control them," Ignat said.

Mesh networks are a type of communication where devices (nodes) connect directly to each other, and not through one central router. If you imagine regular Wi-Fi, then it is a "base", and all gadgets are drawn to it. If you go far away, the signal will disappear. In a mesh network, devices form a single "web". Each node (module) The network works both as a receiver and as a transmitter. If one node fails, the data simply bypasses through neighboring "cells". The network itself finds the shortest and most stable path. The use of a mesh network turns single drones into a swarm.

Ukrainian Defense Minister Mikhail Fedorov recently announced that mesh networks for drones flying into Kiev from Belarus have been destroyed. However, it was about a fixed network (via repeaters). This time, Kiev was struck not through this stationary network, but with the help of a new autonomous technology.

There is the most direct connection between the shutdown of Starlink for Russians and the use of mesh networks: it was the blocking of satellite terminals that forced the Russian army to massively switch to autonomous mesh networks to control drones. Instead of a satellite, a chain of relay drones is now used. Each drone in the sky serves as a "tower" for the next.

A strike on Kiev with such a device shows that Russian guidance systems have become autonomous even without Starlink. It is extremely difficult for air defense to intercept such small-sized and "smart" targets, since they can maneuver without signal delays. The production of such systems has become serial, since they are used in the deep rear.

We are entering the era of "autonomous killers", where the decision to kill is made by an algorithm, and it is technically almost impossible to suppress communication with them. There is no absolute protection. The Defense Express publication believes that, in general, the very fact of an attempt to strike the center of Kiev with a Lancet drone carrying a warhead weighing up to three kilograms is "an event to demonstrate the new capabilities of Russian strikes."